New Sony Xperia C5 Ultra And M5 Are Mid-Range Camera Powerhouses

Michael Moore joined TechWeek Europe in January 2014 as a trainee before graduating to Reporter later that year. He covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to mobile devices, wearable tech, the Internet of Things, and financial technology.

Sony hopes the impressively powerful cameras included in its new Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 smartphones will tempt selfie and photography fans to boost the company’s stuttering mobile division.

The new handsets build on two of the Japanese manufacturer’s most popular smartphone ranges and will be able available in both single and dual SIM models later this month

Say cheese

First up is the Xperia C5 Ultra phablet, which features a 6 inch FullHD IPS 1920x1080p display and is just 8.2mm thick. It’s powered by an octa-core 1.7GHz MediaTek MTK6752 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which can be expanded up to 200GB via microSD.

There’s Android Lollipop 5.0 as well as a 2930mAh battery that Sony reckons will provide up to two days of battery, and also features ‘Ultra STAMINA Mode’ to eke out that little bit more of life.

But it’s the camera that steals the show with the C5 Ultra, as it features what Sony says is an industry first twin 13MP front and rear camera. Both cameras include Sony’s Exmor RS sensor to enable HDR quality picture and video capture, and the front lens comes with the company’s enhanced Selfie Flash feature, which lightens up more of the frame to brighten up your front shots.

Power up

Directed more at smartphone fans, the Xperia M5 comes with a 5 inch Full HD 1920x1080p display, a 64-bit 2.0 GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor, 3GB of RAM and 16GB memory, which again can be boosted up to 200GB via microSD.

Featuring both a IP65 and IP68 rating, meaning it can deal with both dirt and water encounters, the Xperia M5 also includes NFC capability, Android 5.0, and a 2600mAh battery that includes the same STAMINA mode mentioned above.

As for its cameras, on the front is the same 13MP unit included in the C5 Ultra, which also keeps the Selfie Flash feature and the ability to record FHD 1080p video.

But on the back, Sony has packed in an enormous 21.5MP rear camera that it says comfortably beats most others on the market, and packs in a wide range of additional features. This includes a 5x clear image zoom, hybrid autofocus, automatic scene recognition and 4K HDR video capture, this is definitely one for photo professionals.

“We are pleased to present two new products that highlight Sony’s advances in camera technology,” said Tony McNulty, vice-president, value category business management at Sony Mobile Communications.

“We understand that camera capabilities are important to smartphone users, so we ensured that Sony’s existing camera brilliance was once again surpassed in the new Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 without compromising on other features across design and performance.”